Nostalgia

Yesterday I popped out with my camera with

ever loved fish-eye lens to meet a friend photographer.

non

With a sort of fixture when ever I have to go out in this kind of

occasion, the sky is blue, sun is shining (in fact, too much for

photography) —–.

Waking from a camera shop where I bought two SLR bodies for

5 pound each for spare parts, I literally came across a charming

graffiti and an artist working on it at the notorious [Authorized

Graffiti Space] railway under-path near Waterloo Station.

non

In one glance, as I felt the image is somewhat Japanese hence I thought the guy is Japanese.

But he turned out to be rare Thai-Mexican mix and a graduate of an Art School here.

So, the image on the wall is not a Japanese [Okame] face —– 😀

—– What so ever, it’s having strange nostalgia.   The trouble of this kind of very deep latent

memory is, it is hard to figure out its origin.   In fact, non of Japanese woman got a face like that

—– but why I felt it is a Japanese Okame ? ? ? —– was it an illustration of a children’s book I saw

when I was very small ?   Or ancient paintings ?

( At the dawn of Japanese culture, the paintings remain now showing those round cheeks and smooth

round face, hence the explanation of the teacher was “It must be the Korean beauty’s face then” as

those cultural influences came from China through Korea though I never seen no such faces

among the Korean women now)

non

—– or more fundamental nostalgia / common ancient memory even shared by Thai-Mexican ? ? ?

Seeing some other drawings of the artist at his website – sniffsniff.co.uk – (Please Google it. It’s

fascinating enough to click) I found, it was not necessary to be Japanese but his own style — even

his another drawing of western woman having same kind of rather smooth, somewhat innocent,

naive faces —– may be originated from his own memories of childhood —– hence having

no element of eroticism. I like the art which appeals to my subconscious —– and make me puzzle

but more importantly —– gave a kind of soothing, —– listening a far distant lullaby like feeling.

non

After all, we are not living on the sophisticated, complex idea but on the basic feelings.

We may debate or argue about idea or ideology though, unless those idea has made sense and

fused into our subconsciousness, it wouldn’t intertwined or influence our feelings.

On the conscious thinking process, we can think anything we know (even about a new information

just acquired on the spot ) though, that information may soon be forgotten.

But a deep imprinted fact ( in the long-term memory) or its feeling remains almost for ever —–

even after we all forgotten associated facts which tells where and when etc. some information

or latent memories affect our feeling and even a judgement.

(Unless the new information came with shocking impact otherwise repeated again and again, it

wouldn’t become long-term memory / a memory stacked in the subconsciousness )

Still when we rediscovered long forgotten or hidden old memories, it gave us a bit of shock.

—– this is why we need an art which joggled our memory or mind —– as the artists are

good to communicate and able to express their own subconscious.

(The deeper he can go, it will be common with more people —– same as the music)

non

PEACE in JAPAN —- Really ? ? ?

Japan is a strange country.   Among the developed countries, it is the most safe, prosperous

country.  Newborn babies’ mortality rate is the smallest in the world and live longest life.

In other words, it is the most peaceful place in the world. Never seen bloody conflict or

political economical insurgence, other than few Yakuza killings and very remote poison-gas attack

by the religious fanatics. —– Only exception is occasional natural disasters which is

killing handful people in each incidence.

—– so, some may say Japanese are spoiled by the peace.

non

It seems, the previous post which I wrote how Japanese is overcoming the disaster by

ignoring the BAD NEWS, annoyed some people who was saying “ Don’t mix-up

the natural disaster to the man-made Nuclear Accident and the failure of the

response by the government.

I’m well aware of it. In fact I’ve been annoyed by the situation myself. At least, I was an

anti-establishment activist. —-but, we learned it in 60^th, 70^th how hopeless the situation is.

non

The expression in the west [Bang the head against a stone wall] would explain the

situation. —– And the rack of the political leadership, charismatic leader, nor championing

organization — hence no prospect of any change. ( You might be noticed, there is

virtually no anti-Nuclear demonstration in Japan except the one organized by the

musicians —– it was more like a family outing to cheer-up the depressed people

and politically gave no effect )

So that, there is very positive activities to help the disaster stricken people, but in the same

time deep hopeless mind-set toward the situation, especially the government or establishment.

This hopelessness and powerlessness toward the ever murky politics and the

situation of the Nuclear Plant made the people to feel —– it is no different from

unfortunate fate, like the one’s death which will inevitably comes.

(Remember, there was anti-Nuclear or anti-War demonstration, though I never seen

anti-death demonstration — of cause, there is no point at all though,

it is utterly unfair isn’t it. Why not ? 😀 )

—– This Japanese psyche has been exploited by the government, hence their one-party

dominance could continued 50 years.  (Then even after the power moved from Lib-Dem to

Democratic Party, unfortunately as they have been away from the system too long,

they don’t know how to govern the country —– and the system relying on the personal

expertise and the connection, it can not be replaced and changed easily)

Japanese politics is done by the negotiations between those in power and the backup person

and not open to public, not mention foreign journalists, the debate in the Parliament are

just a farce and the Minister is just a nominal figure (the facts and the data was held by

bureaucrats, hence Minister doesn’t necessary know the whole picture) —— even a head of

government change, those people who know the data and actually run the system is

still the same.   Mind you, the system there is economically second or third largest system

and the industrially as large as US. —– when the supply of components stopped from Japan

due to the disaster there, even the iPAD production in China halted.

non

Japanese ENIGMA — It’s the BUDDHISM

There are numerous report of the Japanese disaster which showed incredible calmness

and the orderly behaviour of the people who went trough unimaginable devastation of

their life.

AND the unbelievable calmness while hearing and facing the situation of their Nuclear plant’s

meltdown. —– as if even a meltdown didn’t make a news or no longer the issue.

non

Of cause there was a cunning manipulation of the media by the government and the establishment

whose interests are heavily entwined with those Power supply industry ( with their financial, political

mutual interdependency ) and the PR machine which organized the bent scientists who has been

creating smoke screen and the deception saying “ Nuclear is safe and clean “.

non

So when their Nuclear system break down and shown the leak of radio-active material, they kept

pretending it was just a minor trouble of electric power failure, hence nothing serious at all, and

try to patch-up behind the scene. —– though, as it has melted down just the next day of Tsunami,

the trouble couldn’t be solved easily—– meltdown is really serous trouble.

—– still, they managed to keep the people ignorant, then rose the accident level 5 to 7, a month

later —– waited until the people get used and become immune to a bad news.

Strangely you may think, even in this situation, there is no word of Meltdown in

the Power company’s official report. (Saying  ” I’m not good in English”  😀  😀  )

So that no longer Japanese believe the Company who is just dodging the word. 

( Then what can you believe —— nothing. —– neither knows what will happen ) 

non

Strangely, how serious the situation was, which was detected and assessed by the foreign experts

who saw the Nuclear accident in Three miles Plant US, and those report was appeared in the media

abroad, —– but they were ignored as a demagogue —– anything bad news were suppressed.

This attitude was taken not only the Japanese media but it was common among the people.

[ The most important issue is, to rebuilt the life and regain the normality.

Anything obstruct this has to be rejected and ignored]

———- Whether you can believe or not, you like or not, this is the Buddhism.

non

Buddha told that the life is suffering — and the death is in the end. Yet still, there is

the way to overcome those obstacles by the way to see the world and the life.

And the way to see it, is the Buddhism.

By this, the Enlightenment, we can get the Nirvana —– therefore, instead of wasting

the time worrying about those obstacles and the troubles, [Just get on the life. Just Do It]

Japanese are literally doing this.   ( Unlike in the west, no riot smash or burn down the

Company —– because they know such emotional act can’t solve the trouble at all)

non

Buddha ignored a question what is the structure of the universe or the soul is perpetual.

—– obviously because  [ They are unknowable and it doesn’t matter for us at all ]

non

Now we human being is at the brink of finding the fundamental of the existence by the experiment

of Atomic research —– sound interesting though, —– [ String theory ? ? ?] —– ?

Is it the matter to how many person in the world ? Is Parallel World (even if it’s existed)

anything matters to you ?

The more closer to us, all the fancy gadgets wouldn’t work and couldn’t be designed without the

calculations in the Quantum theory —– though, how many people in the world actually dealing

with this ?   Most of the people using the gadgets only knowing which switch is on-off.

We might be extinct because of the activities of the Sun or by an Asteroid etc. etc. who knows ?

Is it help us to know what could happen one day ? — other than interesting brain teaser.  😀

———- So that, Buddha rejected anything which exist only in the mind

and irrelevant to our dairy life —– defining they are just the delusions.

non

To the Japanese people, natural disaster —– when it’s comes what would happen are same as the

Asteroid or Solar Activities —– it may come but what can you do ?   Nothing.

If nothing, it is better not to bother. —– Worrying wouldn’t help anything (except to the

scientists who knows better and the engineer who design more reliable structure )

And for them, the trouble of the Nuclear Meltdown and its consequence came into the

same category. —– therefore, if it’s happens, it happens —– same as inevitable death,

there is no escape hence no point to argue. —– just resign.

(Anyhow, they can’t understand what is the Nuclear Reaction mean and radiation is

invisible.  It makes no different to Earthquake.  They just shut off the useless thinking )

And as the blockage removed ( worrying mind has gone) then,  just live the day in its best.

Do the best mean, do what you can, to the things on front of you.  Help others who is having more

difficulties.  Utilize something which remains —– improvise and be resourceful. etc.etc.

The matter is live there while making in its best. —– best mean not to do wrong —– they

don’t rob others, nor steal. Even don’t cry —– crying makes others even more depressed

—– it’s no good.  So, this is how and why they are seemingly behaving in such orderly way.

non

You must be realized, it is not enigma at all —– and realized, the control of ego and

emotions can be done by anybody. ( If you can not, it is because you are believing and

unconsciously wanting to cling your ego and the emotions.

—– it is your trouble of fundamental Mind-Set — you need to change the subconscious )

non

Play to the 25,000 victims of the disaster in Japan.

And the best wish to the recovery of the half million people who has been affected.

___/\___

—

ANGER management

I talked about those matter in relation to  Emotion or  Subconscious in many of my old posts.

As I wrote there, Emotion is more to do with the chemical / Hormone effects in our body than

the matter of what we are thinking.

Although there is a funny circle of Chicken and Egg of one’s Mind and the Chemical.

—– which comes first ?

—

When we are contented, that feeling of being satisfied is created by the Hormone called Serotonin

and the Dopamine. —– And the anger was caused by the Noradrenalin.

With the presence of Serotonin the effects of Noradrenalin is suppressed.

Everybody knows, when we are hungry, we tend to get angry. —– we are pretty simple animal 😀

Simply because, when we are hungry there is no Serotonin in our brain hence easily get angry.

Therefore, not get angry, we need to be contented, hence having Serotonin in the brain.

—– Being contented —– here comes your Mind-set.

Non

Contentedness is a relative matter and which is dependent to your assessment —– assessment between

your expectation and the result or what you got on front of your eyes.

Literally, the content is in a jar. How content fills the jar is depends on the size of the jar.

The same content which fulfil a small jar may look almost empty in the bottom of huge jar.

We just feel how it is full by a glance —– and feel either contented or disappointed.

So, have a small size of the jar —– you always feel full = CONTENTED.

Therefore, plenty flow of Serotonin.

With a lots of Serotonin, the anger hormone Noradrenalin is suppressed = PEACE of MIND.

non

To have a small jar is, what we called Humble life. And not too greedy nor arrogant.

Settle with small jar seems to be not ambitious and associated with defeatism —– you are wrong.

It is an easy popular deception created by the commercialism.   With its commercialism you are

mislead and infected by the virus of hunger.

Be positive to be Humble —– ( It’s better than to be in Hunger and Angry dairy life. 🙂 )

What you need is proportional to your size. —– your size is what you were born to be.

You may have huge jar in one aspect of your life, but small one in the other aspect.

No one can have everything.   And not expect to others, since the other may not have it too.

This is What you need to become aware WHO YOU ARE.

And to know this, you need to have clear eyes to see it, listen it, feel it.

Here comes Zen Buddhism to have clear self-awareness.

Non

It’s a long circle of the Chicken and Egg 😀

You must be convinced why the Buddhism exist to have Peaceful Life.

( Effect of chemicals in our body is a part of the Dharma and the Buddhism.

Buddhism is not dubious mumbo-jumbo, but has clear explanation in science )

___/\___

—

MODIFIED APE ? ? ?

As I’ve written “ Artificially modified Ape “ I received pretty strong contention. ( as anticipated )

I didn’t intentionally try to create argument though, I knew there must be a lots of contention.

Not mention the Christian Creationists, but even the ordinary Evolutionists couldn’t agree.

To my eyes, the changes occurred to even the physics of the Human, which were triggered by the

active Human selection,  which changed or resulted the condition of existence is artificial.

MMM

Among the animals, such as the exuberant horn of Deer or the feather of Peacock were the result of

the breeding competition.  The more prominent, the more attraction to the females, hence the Gene

of bigger horn had become dominant.  This is a natural selection and the shift of the size of horn

would be regarded as a process of the Natural Evolution.

But, in the case of the size of Human boobs is quite questionable. When our far ancestors started

to walk biped, genitals became inconspicuous and male and female sees each other, face to face,

guessing the appearance of the others, with dark skin and hairy body, it may not very easy to appeal

“Look at me I’m a female “. So that, the female who happen to have larger boobs had taken more attention,

hence she had more opportunity to produce the offspring —– and the Gene to make larger boobs were

established. —– yet, big boobs is not actually contributing to the fertility nor good supply of the

mother’s milk, because it was made of useless fat.—– It is just for a psychological display.

In other words, it was the matter of the male imagination. Nothing to do with physical evolution.

( Selective breeding is not a natural evolution.  It is a reflection of man’s Ego and  Arrogance)

MMM

The more drastic change had happened in the Human history, when our ancestor gained and figured

out their stable life, and became more than just a hunter gatherer. —– Probably with some domestication

of the animals and the primitive agriculture or knowledges to keep particular plants as the staple food.

Hence able to alleviate a hardship cycle of plentiful and the starvation in the cold.

This stable life, away from the effect of the season, had the same effect of the domestication to

the Human animal.

—– With the (self) Domestication, Human lost the seasonality of the breeding, and the females

started to ovulate out of season.   It was a change of the physiology lead by nutrition and the psychology.

( I couldn’t find any explanation Why Human lost a chemical trigger / Pheromone or sensitive nose  😀 )

All over the world there is a peculiar artefacts of so-called Venus Figure

with exaggerated body.

They are always in the early stone age. —– and only limited on that

period, and never continued.   This fact suggests what had happened,

a woman in the colony had first ever bore the babies twice in a year,

which astonished the people, hence she became a symbol of fertility,

Mother Goddess.  Though, gradually all the women started to show the same,

worship of the Goddess became pointless, hence, the Venous Figure was

no longer produced.   ( This is totally new theory  🙂  )

(Photo above = Venus of Willendorf / Naturhistorisches Museum  / Vienna / Wikipedia )

MMM

This physiological change was a result of the change of Human Life Style, generally called Culture.

And this change of the Culture was the results of the Intellectually lead Human adaptation.

It hadn’t  occurred naturally.  In another word, it was an Artificial Change.

—– Subsequently there were many side effects, consequential changes had occurred in the Human

history.   Namely, such as the Brainization ( Imagination lead ) sexual behaviour —– hence resulted

even a development of sexual obsession. —– This is not a natural evolution at all, but a destruction.

(Without Pheromone induced sexual imperative, a sexual drive has to come from one’s MIND )

—– Big BOOB may not have any physiological value, still it would give you quite an

Imagination.  Imagination always strays away.  ( How exiting.   Ha, ha, ha   😀 )

MMM

Thanks to the Human Intelligence,  Humankind invented many new psych and the idea though,

they are too often far remote from what we started and originally designed by the Dharma.

This is the reason why we have two separate  SELF  in us.

The one is our Self-conscious (the One, thinking),  and the other is in our subconsciousness.

The more we became conscious, we alienate our true Self which we only subliminally aware of.

This is the reason why Buddha taught,

“The Self in the thinking is a Delusion “ “Look at the Dharma without thinking “

Without thinking, is what Mushin mean. (in another sect, this is also called  Detachment)

The Buddhism is to become aware, and to regain What We are.

___/\___

===

In REALITY

All over the world, there are kind of Haunting Ghost Stories.

Still, I never heard a Ghost came back to his Priest, complaining a failure of the teachings

to give him a proper Nirvana. ( or reaching to the Heaven ) 😀

As a matter of fact, Nirvana doesn’t necessary mean a Death. Original meaning is “Put-off a Fire”

and the Fire is a metaphor of the Suffering in the Life.

In this context, its metaphor is quite Buddhist-like understanding, still somewhat akin to the Original Sin

of the Christianity.   It is a sale’s tool to sell the religion to unsuspecting innocents —– exactly same tactics

to sell a body-spray saying “You smell” even though the man is having virtually no body odour but simply

because a man himself can’t judge his own smell.

So, a first step, persuade the people to start to feel, his life is not satisfactory and having trouble and the

sufferings —– when they were persuaded “Having something wrong” then start to sell a remedy.

Irony here is, if there is no religion in the first place, there may not be a notion of Sin or Sufferings.

—– Any how non of the Life is perfect as nobody is perfect.

—–

I used to have a friend of the owner of a big department store.

Since he had inherited huge share of the company, automatically he was earning too much amount

of dividend, therefore having even a headache of what to do with that money.

Donating so much so to this and that Conservationist Organization, and others etc while chased by

other organizations who want his money too, etc etc.

He doesn’t want to deal with money, so that his company has appointed another relative to be a executive

to run the business —– though, because of he got so much money, the people coming to him, were all

after his money, include his 6 wives ( of cause, one at the time 😀 )

Women who got tender sensible character were scared off from him, hence he had to live all through

his married life with gold-diggers. ( Once I was asked by him to judge a woman, I instantly told him

“ Never marry her “ but the woman was much more clever than him in the tactics of psychological

warfare, make him to wait too long, away on her holiday, then gave a call from  China, saying

“Government wouldn’t allow me to leave the Country, unless I got British passport “—– its mean

get marry and get nationality. —– as she got what she wants, she divorced him )

—-

He didn’t need to be Greedy, or Egoistic. Very intelligent Cambridge graduate, hence some time

hard to follow his too academical subject (not mention Cambridge accent 🙂 ) still maintain child like

perception and openly cried like a child with his loneliness ( when woman was not there ) —– though,

he couldn’t understand what’s wrong with his life. —– It was his hopeless Karma.

I don’t think he got anywhere near to a Nirvana though, ( still, at least a Greek wife then was his bed

side —–when he passed away ) I don’t think he would come back as a Ghost. ( He needn’t to haunt

anybody ) —– So, what is the Nirvana ? —- Is there anything like a perfect Nirvana exist ?

I don’t think so.

Someone said, the quality of the man will be reviled when how many number of the attendance came to

his funeral. —– ?    Is the quality of famous pop-star higher than the others ?

Anyhow, the deceased wouldn’t know how many people ever came to his funeral.

—-

Here is the another irony, if a man didn’t ever had a notion of the Enlightenment nor Nirvana, he

would just live his life as it is with high and low.—– Though, a Snobb would say, it’s a dog’s life,

man has to aim spiritually higher existence. —– ?   Really ?    Interesting !

—-

If any Buddhist having this kind of snobbish delusion, better read the Books again.

You will find the description such as

“As long as you have the notion of the Enlightenment, it is not the Enlightenment “.

This is the description of ultimate Mushin. If only the accomplished Buddhists reborn to the human again,

and rest of people would reborn to the another creature, human population will be soon dwindled.

Think how many times more number of   Non-Buddhist population in the world.

So that, in reality, there is no problem to re-produce bad boy by the un-enlightened parents. 😀

If this is the reality, what is the point to study and chase the Buddhism.

Because after all, the goal is just carry out ordinary life without having the conscious of own life.

This is the situation, I described long time ago with a metaphor of Room A and Room A’. (Ref: )

—-

Funny Paradox is, in the Mahayana understandings, as every body born with the Dharma within,

there is equal potential for everybody can achieve the Enlightenment and Nirvana.

But in the same time, nobody is the same (even the same person is different, moment to moment),

nobody is perfect, still everybody can get their Enlightenment as his own INPERFECTION, there

can not be any one standard of the LIFE.

Therefore, neither a standard of what the Enlightenment should be.

Only the person who can assess Who I am and the State of the Mind, and the progress to reach

the Enlightenment, is the very person —– might be you who is reading this.

—-

In the fundamental paradox of the Buddhism, as long as a person is thinking about

the Enlightenment, the person will get no Enlightenment. —– in fact,

the Idea of the Enlightenment itself is nothing but a delusion.

“There couldn’t be any Enlightenment exist” —– might be the ultimate Enlightenment.

To see the thing as it is, in reality is the Buddhism.  And to think it by yourself was the Order of

Buddha himself.   And above all have to live in Reality, not waste the time with fantasy. 😀

Is it a daunting task ?   No, I don’t think so neither.

Because, to be a Buddhist is as easy as Just Do It, Just Live.  😀

___/\___

—

TOMATO is DHARMA

A reader sent me a link of a page of Wikipedia [Dharma]  to educate me. 😀

Thank you very much though,  I might have seen this page before but didn’t like it.

The author of the page surely knew the meanings of the Dharma contains

mere things and phenomenon as well.

But he might wanted to make up the story looks more authoritative,  he emphasized more in the Rules side,

and only mentioned “Things”  and  “Phenomenon” just like an addition.

—– ” It was his Arrogance sir ” 😀

——

Don’t make the things and the life even more complicated with useless thinking.

Just open your eyes and look at a Tomato plant.(Provided if you have one. If not, anything would do the same)

—— Its green shoot, leaves, and although it’s under a soil and can’t be seen  but its root is there.

It’s just grow.  And going to yield beautiful red Tomato fruits (or vegetable ? —– you argue, not me  😀 )

( If you ever eaten  fully ripen real tomato in the sun drenched field,  you know how sweet its fruits is ! )

With your fresh eyes, just feel again.  Isn’t this amazing ?   How it’s grow ? How it’s exist here ?

To maintain its shape as a Tomato plant,  there is a complicated biological mechanism, —– determination

by its genetics, and the botanical, agricultural aspects such as the species, variety etc,  the growth

mechanism,  monocular-biology,  what nutrition,  what substance goes into their roots and converted into

what and makes its leaves etc etc.   It is a conglomerate of existence with rules and phenomenon.

—-

Without having this Tomato plant itself,  all those phenomena never taking place there.

So, why the Tomato exists in the first place and who is and why, you happened to watching this Tomato.

All together,  this,  before your eyes —– is The Dharma. (Which you need to pay a respect as well)

—– But, if you don’t have the eyes and the mind to feel it is amazing,  you may need to reset your mind

and the perception once, and start again to see the world, like a child saw it first time ever.

You may not as bad as the people believing that the Tomato comes from Tesco. 😀

This is why Buddha ordered  ” Think yourself ” —— refresh your perception.

To see the Dharma in its shape of a Tomato is the starting point of the Buddhism.

___/\___

—

YOU are a part of the DHARMA

The people who is thinking to know or believing the Buddhism, might be believing that

Shakya muni Buddha started the teaching of The Dharma.

You are wrong.

—-

The Dharma exist from the beginning of the time and the space. —-– or even before that and

may triggered the creation of this world itself.

And the notion of the Dharma has been existing thousands of years before Buddha.

In fact, an ancient word Dharma is a headache of the scholars and the translators alike, as its contains

so many meanings.   All the existences is the Dharma, and the Rules among those existences is the Dharma.

And the Rules and the Law are also the Dharma. —– it’s suggesting it was the long-established philosophy

to see the world, visible and invisible, the existing world is an entwined system of the existences and

the relations and the rules between them.   It was derived from the basic attitude to see the things not

just as a material but to understand them in a spiritual context.  Typical in the Eastern Philosophy.

It is more akin to the general theory of the Universe which can define from the sub-particles

to the life-cycle of the stars and the universe.

What Buddha found was mainly the relation and the rules between Man and the Dharma.

But as the Dharma itself is the Rules, what he taught was the way to see and follow its rules in the Dharma.

And taught his followers, to follow and live according to the Dharma, it is the way to attain the Nirvana.

——

As everybody born with the Dharma within ( of cause, since we are a part of the Dharma ) every body

should able to see and easy to follow it. ( provided, to see it with clear eyes and the mind. 🙂 )

So that, Buddha ordered his disciples to see and think it by themselves —– not believing what others

said or written.

—– Why, the reason was?  Because, the Dharma is invisible and deep inside of each person’s

subconscious, only a fully opened mind, without any disturbance of the thought in the mind

can see it. Listening, reading somebody else’s words need to think the meaning —– utterly opposite of

what Buddha taught.   Of cause, no-one can write down and listing up what the requirement of the Dharma.

No human being is above the Dharma.

Even Buddha followed the Dharma and accepted his Nirvana.

—–

As everybody is a part of the Dharma, everybody is connected each other and to the natures.

As if you feel the pain of the injured hand in your whole body,  the pain and the agony of the victims

in Sendai hit the other people,  even a Yakuza in Osaka,  and made him to drive a truck to deliver the

relief goods to the victims.  It was his spontaneous actions and nobody needed to persuade him to do.

Thousand of volunteers like him are helping the victims of the earthquake, tsunami and evacuees of the

destroyed nuclear plant,  simply because the compassion in their subconscious,  which is no

other than the Dharma, has driven them.

Some volunteers may be the Buddhists or other persuasions but not necessary all of them.

Its mean,  the humanistic compassion is not a monopoly of the Buddhism nor any religion,  but

the Dharma and its virtues are the common among the all the human being.

Buddha pointed out this fact, and taught the way to see and listen it,  since he noticed the

mechanism and the tendency of the Rules in the Dharma,  by his insight while in Mushin.

What makes the Buddha’s teaching unique was,  that he found an active process to reach the

Dharma by sharpening one’s perception by the practice.  The practice to silence the useless noise,

the one’s thinking which is masking the Dharma.

—-

Fundamentally the Dharma is Selfless as it is,  say the Universal Soul,  the Rules of

the Universe,  it doesn’t belong to or favour any individual.

And its Rules are for the continuation of the Universe,  not necessary for a single individual.

Therefore, to see and listen what the Dharma is aiming, the one has to silence his own projection.

In other words, the one has to know he himself is not a single entity, only a part of the Dharma.

In metaphor, there is no such things of the sovereign independence of the Nation of the Self.

Strangely you might think, giving up the independence can bring much more benefit to a  nation.

( Don’t fooled by a silly sample of a farce in the European Community and the troubled  Greece and the

Portugal etc,   EC is not the Dharma.    Ha ha ha  😀 )

Of cause, the power of the Dharma and its aim of continuity is far grater than an individual.   😀

Its power ratio is the infinitum against virtually nil.   Better forsake useless own thinking and let the

Dharma to decide —– this is what Buddhists calls the Selfless-Life  or  Life in Mushin.

In another metaphor,  the Cloud Computing has more power than the set of program in an individual

PC. ( —– though, I don’t like the idea of Cloud itself,  since Google is not the selfless Dharma.

There is no such things like free lunch.  Think while using free Google,  what we gave up to them ?

To them we are completely naked. What we are interested in, what we are searching, what we are

talking with my friend etc etc and made ourself to just a target of the  advertisement )

—-

Once the individual thinkings were cleared off,  one’s subconscious,  and the Dharma which

has been masked underneath will prevail.

And it allow a person to react instantly without the hindrance of time-wasting thinking or

useless consideration of Ego.

This is what the Zen Buddhism is doing and what you can achieve with it.

___/\___

—

禅仏教とは What is the Buddhism

This is the shortest explanation of What is the BUDDHISM, which I made to my friend in Japan.

——————–

これは日本の友人に送ったメールで、仏教とは何かを説明した部分ですが改めて読んでみると、

極度に簡略化した割に要点はちゃんと収まっている。

これは皆に読んでもらうのに手頃では？と、ポストに加えました。

—-

仏教的倫理観では、人間も含めた全存在は実は無限に広がり断え間なくつながった

「法（ダルマ）」であると理解しています。　個人が個人と見え、当人もそう考えているがそれは単なる

見かけで実体の無いもの。　（ましてその当人のエゴだ欲だといったものは当人の幻想、雑念以外

の何物でもない）－－－で、当人は実は全体のー部分、他の人ともつながっているから、ちょうど怪我をした

手の痛みが全身に伝わるように、仙台の痛みが大阪のヤクザにさえ伝わりトラックを駆って現地の救援にと

かり立てる。　それも坊主が説教してかり出した訳ではなく、全く自発的な行動です。

ーーーという事は別に仏教に依らずとも、元々これが人間のモラル、「法」として存在していたという事実です。

当然、救援に向ったトラックで石コロを運んだような馬鹿は居ない。自発こそは「法」であり、英知です。

例の倫理構造図式の、実在、真、正、英知、さらにそこから抽象された倫理意識や、具体的に

何をすべきかは人に言われるまでもなく、まして坊主に説教されるまでもなく誰もが解っている事です。

釈尊はこれを指摘して「法」がいかに全てをカバーし有効に機能しているかを説明しただけで、別に

[法]やモラルを発明して人類に与えた訳ではありません。（僕は単にそれを図式化して説明しただけです）

元々「法」の中に無我も慈善も含まれているのですが人間、我や欲、執着があって素直に「法」を

見る事、従う事ができない。　で、小乗仏教では細かく禁忌義務を列記して、

形の上だけでも「法」に従った、つまり悟りを開いたとされる人間を生産しようとした訳です。

しかし何百もの禁忌を記憶しそれにこだわりつつ生きる事自体が雑念ではないか？となった。

ここから大乗ヘの進化が始まった訳です。

—

「法」は全ての人間に（実は虫けらにも）元々備っていて雑念がそれをマスクしているだけだから

要は無心になれば良いーーーとは言うものの、それ程簡単ではない。

「精々努力しなさい。しかしムリしなさんな」というのが「中道」と言うもの。

極端に執着したり固定観念でタメにするのは別として人が人として自然に着想してやっていく事は

「法」の内と見るのが大乗です。 しかし、それならー流の職人が寝食を忘れて完璧を追求するのは何か？

あるいは連続強姦魔はどうなのか？ーーーなどというタメにする質問が出たら、

質問者をー発ドツケば即解決する。禅は明解です。

—–

面白いのは長年黙々と手作業をやって来た人、全く空しく水面を見つめて来た釣り帥などの中に

しばしば「ムッ、お主できるな」という人物がいる事です。ーーーで、この効果を意図的に再現するように

考えたのが、それぞれの宗派の「行」で、全く何の足しにもならない事を延々と繰り返させる。

初めは疑問や不平があってもいずれ思念を放棄し黙々とやるようになる。意図的に与えられたものでも

無心に遂行する心理、行動様式が定着すると余計な思考や逡巡なく物事を処理できるようになる。

ーーーーー（僕はこれを仏教の持つ第３のアスぺクト＝心理工学と呼んだ訳ですが）

（思念のマスクが取除かれると潜在意識の中にプログラムされていたものが反射的に出る。.しかし、

本人すら自覚していないものが何故そこに在るのか？ーーーだからそれが「法」なのだ、と説明する）

無心とは、一切の構えなく心を開く事でもありますから自由な発想を持つには最適ーーーで、

それをテストする為に僕は色々変なものを発想しては、それを作っている訳です。

実験心理学、実験仏教学と言う所以です。

ーーーーーーーーーー

___/\___   Yoshizen 拝

—–

SOCIETY

In the media reports of Japanese Disasters, a peculiarity of Japanese society was shocked the world.

“Why Japanese can keep calm and not express their grief ? “

I explained a back-ground —– their deep embedded Ethos / Fatalism originated from the

Buddhism —– in the previous post.

—–

But there is the another aspect which is even deeper and common to all the human-being.

We human-being is a social animal , we live, and have to live as a member of a society.

We are definitely a descendant of the packed animal like monkey, chimpanzee, not a lone panther.

Hence it is written in our gene, and so-called instincts are programmed accordingly such as the

gripping hand of a baby is to cringe to a mother.

To be a social animal, there is the order of the society and its rules. Any member who couldn’t

comply the rules, will be excluded from its society —– and slow death is the fate.

Where those rules were posted ? Ethos and those social code are not written but kept by the

member, the member themselves are the role-model / manifestation of the rules.

As society is operated by their member who possess the same Ethos and the Rules, and it is

almost the same even generation after generation, all the social activity, social systems are coherent

with the same Ethos. Everything shows the same manifestation and follow the same rules.

This exact coherency can be observed by even a small baby and learned by them and written

down into their subconscious memory. In fact this is the so-called Collective Unconscious.

But this is the case when the society is having universal, coherent system and the Ethos.

Among the member, some might become rebel though, the person is only temporally rebelling

or just behaving the reverse of existing rule —– nothing new just a reverse.

But when the population who is possessing fundamentally different Ethos, moved into other society,

it start to show completely different situation.

In metaphor, when non-thieving society received considerable size of thieving group, the Ethos of

both societies break down. ( Even thieving society and their way of life having their own strict rules,

taboo, who to steal or who is the senior thieves and the violent punishment who break its rules )

A kids of Non-thieving society learn the thieving, and a kids of Thieving society learn to

escape a punishment claiming his Human right 😀

Everything break down and only Ego exposed.

A baby start to see two conflicting systems and the rules, hence unable to figure out what is the Ethos of

the Society —– there couldn’t be a Collective Unconscious but just an attitude of

convenient cherry picking of excuse and the knowledge of “How to avoid “ —– it’s mean avoid

to be a member of the society. In fact there is no longer a society and its integrity exists.

—–

Fortunately ( or unfortunately ? ) Japanese society still maintain themselves as a society,

as foreign element is still negligible, even an outcast group Yakuza responded to the disaster, with

hundreds of truck load of relief supply delivered to the evacuated people.

Even though Yakuza were branded as the criminal organization, they are undoubtedly nobody else of

Japanese, and a part of the same society, hence share the same compassion and the sense of duty.

—– simply because, they grown up in the same society ( Even Yakuza was once an innocent

small boy,as you know 😀 ) hence build up the same Ethos as a Japanese.

—-

In reality, to make a baby to a Japanese, other than the teachings in a school and the family and the

circulating popular culture, such as everybody should have the same gadget and ware same kind (well

some pre-classified types) of fashion, there is a hidden secret of social pressure to a person

to conform the social code.

It is more akin to the chorus of the hen in the Animal Farm. When this chorus starts, even a person

who has been saying different opinion suddenly changes the colour and join a chorus, the louder the better.

This is a moment to a person to assess what is the majority and join them.

When the majority is behaving in a certain way, just do the same. To remain within the same group

and the society is the imperative in Japan. Whether it is true or not, right or wrong, just go with them.

So that, when nobody is crying –its mean, no-one should cry. The unwritten code says “Mittomonai

( It looks disorderly, and embarrassing ) “ Anybody brake-off from here, there is a danger to be ostracised.

As a result, everybody looks calm on the TV.

—

Funny side-effect of this conformative society is, as the expectation and the imaginary eligibility

of a man is fixed, such as socially acceptable income and the status etc, under the stagnated

Japanese economy, most of the ordinary man is no longer regarded to fit to marry —– hence

so many people are forced to stay single. ( A research found that among the eligible age-group,

only 6 % of men were regarded to fit the expectation of the woman, its mean, if a woman marry

other than rare 6 % , she will face a humiliation, a chorus of “Mittomonai”.)

—

When no dominant voice led the chorus, hens couldn’t know what to do.

Strangely, they still knows when somebody start to show up with unconformative opinion, they

overwhelm the opinion with their noisy chorus and suppress it. Therefore no fresh innovative idea

(other than imaginative Manga story) nor strong decisive idea coming out of Japan.

This is the situation in Japanese politics too.

Therefore, when they faced a crisis of Nuclear accident, they only try to avoid the Japanese public

fallen into a “Mittomonai” panic, by pretending nothing serious happened, thus do-nothing —-take

an emergency measure itself looks “Mittomonai”—– until it’s actually exploded.

Then everything got too late to take any measure. —– though, a criticism like this will be seen by a Japanese

as an act to expose “Mittomonai”Japan, hence has to be suppressed —-> So that , there wouldn’t be any

“Mittomonai”situation, therefore, able to keep calm face. Face is more important than the safety.

Beautiful isn’t it ?

—-